This is a very worrying situation. One of my best friends (Egyptian - Coptic Christian) is at home on holiday in Cairo at the moment.He lives in London and not due back here till end of May.I have been to his mother's place in Cairo and also his sister's, neither of which are too far from the Al-Azraa church.

Egypt's prime minister has called an urgent cabinet meeting following fatal clashes between Muslims and Christians in Cairo overnight, state media says.

Essam Sharaf has postponed a visit to the Gulf in order to discuss the violence that left 10 people dead and 186 wounded.

The clashes broke out after several hundred conservative Muslims gathered at a church in central Imbaba district.

For months conservative Muslim groups in Egypt have been protesting about the case of Camelia Shehata, the wife of the Coptic priest, who vanished last year. They say she converted to Islam and was being held against her will. But she has now appeared on a TV channel saying she is still a willing Christian.

Last night's attack by a Salafi crowd on the Saint Mena church in Imbaba was about a different woman, who they also allege is being forcibly prevented from converting to Islam.

Prime Minister Essam Shara is sufficiently alarmed by the scale of the violence to cancel his trip to the Gulf.

Some Egyptians believe the military deliberately allows the fighting to continue because it is unwilling to confront the Salafis, who have become more assertive since the fall of President Mubarak. Some believe it is elements of the old regime stirring up trouble. Certainly there are ambitious figures in both communities whose leadership aspirations might benefit from increased strife

Heightened political competition in the run-up to the first post-Mubarak election in September could well spark off more communal clashes. The interim military government's track record in dealing with them, is not encouraging.

I also have a very dear friend who is Muslim - and married to a Muslim, and who lives in the "posher" part of Cairo. Her husband is a pilot for Egypt Air. Troubling times for all.